The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1887-01-01
A MATTER OF TASTE.
Strange Dishes That Are Eaten
by Different People.
Reptiles, Dog Meat, Bears Paws, Ele-
plants Feet, Mooses' Noses and Odd
Parts of Other Animals for Gour-
mands to Revel Upon.

Nothing is more variable than ma
tional diet, except it be national APP
petite. An italian is content with q
handful of bread and grapes, while an
Englishman can devour twenty pounds
of flesh a day, and Tartar is men,
toned by Captain Cochrane in his
travels who consumed in four-and-
twenty hours the hind quarter of a
large OK, three of the same tribe think
ing nothing of polishing off reindeer
at a meal.
But even more varied than amount
is kind. The New Brunswickers find a
special charm in the loose nose of the
moose deer. Sharks fins and fish
maws, unmatched ducks and chickens.
sea-slugs and birds nests are all priced
by the omniverous Chinese. The
PariSlanS eat horse-fesh; and in the
Exhibition of 1851 NJ. Brochchieri
showed and sold delicious cakes, pat
ties and bonbons of bullock's blood,
rivaling the famous marrons glaces
of the confseries of the boule-
wards. This seems almost a tri-
umph of art. In Havana the shark is
openly sold in the market, and the
Chinese ascribe special invigorating
virtues to its fins and tail. The
Gold Coast negroes are all fond
of sharks, as they are of hippo
potami and alligators, and the Poly.
nesians are also very fond of shark S
flesh quite raw. Other people beside
the Gold Coast negroes feed on and
enjoy reptiles. We ourselves eat one
of the tribe when we consume calipash
and calipee. But though we revel in
turtle, we will have nothing to do with
the tortoise; yet half the soup eaten in
Italy and Sicily is made out of the land
tortoise. boiled down to its essence. In
some of the West India Islands land
tortoises are in much repute. The eggs
of the close tortoise Gesture clausa)
are held a great delcacy in North
America, and Sir Walter Raleigh fed
his fainting men on 'tortuggas eggs"
while sailing up the Orinoco.
In both North and South America
the salt water terrapin is a fat and lus-
cious luxury, and its eggs are much
priced. The hideous, scaly iguana
comes out better in the trial than its
outside promises; skillfully cooked it
resembles chicken in flesh and turtle
in flavor. 1t is really excellent eating;
like chicken or rabbit when stewed or
curried; like turtle when dressed as
turtle should be, and like hare when
turned into soup, its small soft-shelled
eggs being equal to itself in purity and
daintiness of flavor. Indeed, the eggs
of most reptiles are wonderfully appe-
thing, but none more SO than those of
the harmless, hideous, yet delicious
iguana. unless it be the eggs of the de-
spised land tortoise. Caymans and
crocodiles, lizards and frogs are all
eaten and enjoyed by certain people.
The typical crocodile is like veal, but
some species have strong flavor of
musk, and some are like Young,
juicy pork, while others resemble
lobster. Others, again, have a
powerful fishy taste, very disagreed
Bile. On the whole, therefore,
crocodile is uncertain eating. and
not to be ventured on with rashness.
Alligator is supposed to be invigorating
and restorative, and at Manila is sold
at high prices, the Chinese clutching at
the dried skin, which they use in their
awful messes OF gelatinous soup. Alli-
gator is likened to sucking pig, but its
eggs have musty flavor.
The French are VIGOROUSLY addicted
to frogs, which command high price
in New York also, where they sell the
large bullfrog, sometimes weighing half
a pound, as well as the tender little
green animal (rana esculenta), whose
hind legs taste so like delicate chicken
when served with white sauce in res
taurants and hotels of Paris and Vienna.
OF course frogs do not escape the
Chinese, who deyour every thing with
blood and fiber; and the negroes of
Surinam eat the loathsome Surinam
toad Monkeys are also considered
good eating in some countries, African
epicures are never more charmed than
when they can dine off highly
seasoned, tender young monkey, baked
gypsy fashion in the earth. The great
red monkey, the black spider monkey
and the bowling monkey are all eaten
by the various peoples among whom
they are found. The flesh of the monkey
is said to be both nutritious and pleas
ant One species of bat is considered
good eating by the natives of the
islands Of the Indian Archipelago, Mala-
bar, etc. it is called by naturalists the
edible bat, and is said to be white, ten